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User blog:SnakeTongue237/Ten Of The Most Memorable Horror Sequences Of The Past Ten Years.
Preamble As of late, horror films have been somewhat down in the dumps. Just take a look at some of the recent titles to come out for mainstream audiences. Ouija: Origin Of Evil? Horrible. The only reason the reviews were good was because it beat the hell out of the first movie, but that doesn’t make the new one good by default. The Boy? Don’t even get me started. The only reason I didn’t walk out of the theater was because A) I was with friends, and B) I love Lauren Cohan. Lights Out? I mean… it was okay, I guess. The original short film wins in comparison by about a mile. So, why are horror movies so bad these days? Well, I’ll tell you why. The companies no longer give a shit about actual quality. They pander shamelessly to the lowest common denominator and don’t give any thought to people who go into theaters expecting something that resembles an actual fucking movie. Those of you who have worked with me, as a writer, in the past, know that I tend to be pretty critical of myself, and I accept constructive criticism (and expect it), because I don’t think I’m all that good, really. So, it should say quite a bit when I tell you that I think I could write a better script for a horror film than almost anything that’s come out in the past year. But enough with my ranting. My point here is, really, that there’s so many bad examples of horror movies, not just last year, but in the last ten years, really, that it’s very stark and memorable when we find a good one. More, specifically, when we watch a good scene that genuinely scares us, or, is just effective and well done overall. Today, I’d like to focus on those moments. Those times when we think, “Hmm… maybe there’s hope for the genre after all!” Ladies and gentlemen, ten of the most memorable horror sequences in the last ten years. Another Bloody End- Rec I’ll be the first to admit. I didn’t love this movie in the way a lot of people did, but I’ll be damned if the last scene isn’t terrifying. We sort of know Angela’s death is coming. This is a found footage film, so clearly, our main characters are going to die, right? Well, maybe. However, watching her being dragged, screaming, into the darkness to an unknown fate is ultimately way scarier than any sort of on screen fatality the screenwriters could’ve dreamed up. Also, the night vision gives everything an eerie, green drenched sense of realism. The Pale Man- Pan’s Labyrinth Up until this point in the movie, we hadn’t gotten the sense that it was really a horror film. The Faun’s appearance was kind of creepy, given, and the war scenes are very well done and thought provoking in their execution, but really, the true fright only sets in when our female lead, Ofelia, decides to go against the warnings of the faun in the midst of her second challenge and eat the food presented to her on the table, hence awakening The Pale Man. The moment in which he pushes his eyes into his hands and subsequently raises them to his face is nightmare fuel that will continue to scare many as this movie slowly evolves into a classic over the years. Apple of my Eye- Oculus A more recent addition to this list, Oculus was a breath of fresh air that saw the typical “Haunted house/upsetting past/new horrors coming back to haunt now older people” formula that we had gotten so bored with lately used in different and new ways. That being, a haunted mirror distorts your vision and other senses. One of the things that I loved so much about this movie was that, as the plot advances, the line between what is real and what isn’t becomes very blurred, leaving us to fill in the blanks ourselves. Did the mirror cause our main character to see his old dog walking through the hallway? Or is it just a projection of his already damaged mind? This trick is never more awesomely used than in the gruesomely wince-worthy “Lightbulb scene.” Just watch for yourself. The Pool- Let The Right One In Like our previous selection, this particular scene uses what we can’t see to it’s advantage, again, leaving our mind to make up the rest. Instead of showing the brutal massacre that is surely happening above, the director, Tomas Alfredson, chooses to keep one sustained, silent underwater shot, which is very effective and even satisfying to watch. You don’t need to see Oskar’s bullies being murdered, you just know. In a strange and effective sense, it’s beautiful, underneath all those severed body parts. It’s a person avenging and saving the one she loves in the only way she knows how. Apple Of Eden- The Witch I remember, very distinctly, the first time I saw this scene. More specifically, I remember my jaw being on the ground and my eyes wide open in shock. I turned to my friend, who I had brought to the theater, and was somewhat bemused to find the same stunned gaze being directed at the screen. If you haven’t seen the movie, you can probably guess from what I’ve already said that this was a very disturbing scene, and you would be correct in that assumption. What could provoke such a strong reaction, I hear you cry? Well, let’s just say, some of the most vile acts of possession induced self destruction since The Exorcist. Scary Story- Trick R Treat Just yesterday, to celebrate Halloween, I watched this movie with my family (Yes. With my family. The sexy werewolf transformation sequence went over very well). My favorite scene was, and still is, the point in one of our four storylines in which a scary story is recalled with the intent of scaring friends in a group of young teenagers. We all have memories of this kind of thing growing up. You’re out with your friends somewhere, everyone’s having a good time, when some asshole starts telling a scary story about what supposedly “Happened here fifty years ago.” This scene plays off those ancient fears of trepidation and worry, confirming that those worst nightmares from that asshole friend, might just hold a bit of truth. The Man With Fire On His Face- Insidious What’s the single most annoying horror cliche these days? That’s easy. The jumpscare. It happens to often in today’s movie that the average horror fanatic has become jaded to them. Instead of making popcorn fly, a yawn or glance at the wristwatch is a much more common approach to this now dull method of fright. So, why has the jumpscare become so boring? Well, it’s because our collective mind, as an audience, has learned how to anticipate them, whilst the scare itself is supposed to be surprising. This scene from Insidious is a rare example of a sudden jumpscare that’s actually quite memorable and even scary, because ironically, we weren’t prepared for it. The filmmakers were leading us up to it all along, and we didn’t even realize it. Annabelle- The Conjuring Before Annabelle had her own horribly made spinoff, there was the original. There was The Conjuring, which, from the opening shot of the doll’s blank, dead, pupils, succeeded profoundly in making us very uncomfortable. James Wan (Also the director of the previous film on this list) knew he had to set the groundwork in early. He had to make it absolutely clear that this movie was going to be his absolute scariest one yet, and boy did he ever accomplish what he set out to do. There are so many individual things that make this scene work. The unsettling music, the creepy close ups of Annabelle, the horrified expressions of the nurses, Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren, and most of all, the single sustained shot of a red crayon rolling underneath the door. Chilling. Don’t watch this one alone. Chaos Reigns- Antichrist Perhaps, in the future, I’ll make a blog post detailing an analysis of this movie. Because really, trying to explain this entire monster in just a few words wouldn’t be doing the film justice. However, I will say that my interpretation of the movie is this: Human nature and mother nature are one, and we’ve advanced too much to realize this simple truth. This is perhaps best illustrated in the infamous “Fox Scene,” in which Willem Dafoe’s character finds a wounded fox in the woods, which warns him that “Chaos Reigns.” All things considered, this scene shouldn’t work nearly as well as it should. I mean… it’s a talking fox… right? The first time I saw it, I felt sort of embarrassed that it had really scared the shit out of me. But looking back on it now, with the full realization of what such a warning implied, I don’t feel so bad anymore. Lars Von Trier, I think, filmed this to show the pure closeness between human and animal, and really, to show that the line doesn’t exist. We are animal, and in the world of animals, chaos reigns. It’s Satan’s Church, people, any way you look at it. And for this simple display of horrid philosophy that we can’t help but accept as truth, it gets a place on my list. Forever More- The Lords of Salem This movie was different from Zombie’s other works. Instead of his usual shocking style of gritty violence, he instead opted for a slow build up that lead to this very satisfying finale. It’s a whirlwind of pure horror. It fills our senses, and nothing escapes. The pure and vast display of color, the beautiful sense of the bizarre, the increasingly blasphemous religious imagery, and best of all, the heart-pounding sounds of the scene, from the steady beating of the drum, to a loud, grating screech, to the voices of the lords themselves, pledging their lives to Satan, and of course, the thunderous boom of some unseen preacher, screaming his conviction for us to hear. It’s strange, it’s vibrant, it’s creepy as all hell, and most of all, it is very much memorable. Closing So, with that said, what’re some of the more memorable sequences you can remember from the last ten years? Let me know in the comments section, as well as your thoughts on this blog in general, and with that said, have a good day! Category:Blog posts